Winter Nightmares
by Pitch Black Frost
Summary: After being defeated by the Guardians, Pitch wants revenge. So, he takes Jamie as a hostage. But, what Pitch didn't count on is Jamie's older sister, Rapunzel, coming after him. But Pitch has a new ally who is more powerful than Rapunzel and the Guardians; the Snow Queen herself, Elsa. Rapunzel will stop at nothing to save her brother and teams up with a Protector, Brier Rose.
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note: This story is kind of a sequel to _Rise of the Guardians_ and may contain spoilers to the movie._**

_"Next stop: Burgess!"_

Rapunzel Bennett was jolted wake by the conductor's voice coming over the intercom. It took her moment to remember where she was. She looked around the train car. There was a man in a suit a few seats a head of her working on his laptop, but no one else was in the car. It was an eight hour train ride from where Rapunzel goes to school in Corona to her hometown, Burgess, and she had slept most of the time.

It was the night after Easter and she was coming home to spend spring break with her parents, younger brother, Jamie, and younger sister, Sophie. As the train came to a stop at the Burgess station, Rapunzel grabbed her bag and quickly headed for the doors. When the doors slid open the first thing Rapunzel noticed was snow. It was covering everything as if they had just been hit with a blizzard. Rapunzel found this odd since it was now spring. She stepped off the train and shivered, wishing she had worn something warmer than just a t-shirt.

"Rapunzel!"

Rapunzel turned to see Jamie and Sophie running towards her. She dropped her bag and crouched down to hug them both at the same time.

"I missed you guys," she told them.

"We missed you, too!" Jamie said. "You won't believe what happened!"

"Calm down, Jamie," their mother said. "Let's get Rapunzel home and settled and then you can catch her up."

Jamie looked disappointed, but agreed. Their father took Rapunzel's bag and Rapunzel took Sophie's hand as they walked across the parking lot.

"How was the train ride?" Her father asked once they were settled inside the car.

"Long," Rapunzel replied with a laugh. "I'm not looking forward to doing it again."

"I don't blame you," their mother said.

The rest of the ride home the conversation consisted mostly of their mother asking Rapunzel about school. As soon as they pulled into the driveway, everyone piled out of the car and went inside.

"I'm gonna start dinner," their mother said.

Rapunzel nodded in acknowledgement and then went up to her room to unpack. Jamie and Sophie followed her and sat on her bed, telling stories of what happened since she had been there for Christmas.

"What did you guys do for Easter?" Rapunzel asked, pulling a Corona University sweatshirt on over her t-shirt.

Jamie and Sophie exchanged glances as Rapunzel sat down next to them.

"Well..." Jamie began.

"Bunny!" Sophie said. Sophie was only two-years-old and still didn't speak very well.

Rapunzel smiled at them. "The Easter Bunny came?"

Sophie nodded. "Jack, too!"

Rapunzel raised an eyebrow. "Jack?"

"Jack Frost," Jamie explained. "He was here yesterday."

It took a moment for it to sink in. "Oh, right. All the snow. He must have been really nippin' at your nose yesterday." Rapunzel gently tapped the tip of Sophie's nose and she giggled. "Did you have a hard time finding the eggs in the snow?"

"There were no eggs," Jamie stated. "The Nightmares destroyed all of the Easter Bunny's eggs. Everyone stopped believing in him because of it and he turned into a little bunny. Normally he's really tall with boomerangs and-"

"Whoa! Slow down!" Rapunzel said, laughing.

"Dinner!" their mom called out.

Rapunzel, Jamie and Sophie hurried to the kitchen and sat down at their usual spots at the table just as their mom was finishing setting out their plates of spaghetti. As soon as Rapunzel sat down, she felt a head on her lap. She looked down to see their Greyhound, Abby, looking up at her with pleading eyes. Rapunzel cut one of her meatballs in half and snuck it down to her.

"Can you believe all the snow we have?" their father asked.

"It's crazy," Rapunzel agreed.

"It was Jack Frost," Jamie said with a mouthful of spaghetti.

"He hasn't stopped talking about Jack Frost since yesterday," their mother said.

"We had a big snowball fight with him, the Easter Bunny, Santa, the Sandman and the Tooth Fairy after we defeated Pitch," Jamie continued.

Rapunzel couldn't help laughing. "You have quite the imagination, Jamie. Were Santa's elves there, too?"

"Yeah. Did you know the elves don't actually make the toys; the yetis do."

"Yetis?"

Jamie nodded, then stood up on his chair and held his arms above his head. "They're really big and covered in fur. And they kinda talk funny..."

"Sit down, Jamie," their father said. "Do you want to knock out another tooth?"

"You lost a tooth?" Rapunzel asked.

Jamie showed her the hole where his left front tooth should have been. "Jack Frost made an ice path in the street and my sled was flying down it until I crashed into a pile of snow. Then a couch hit me and I lost my tooth."

"When did this happen?" Rapunzel asked; secretly hoping the answer would have nothing to do with Jack Frost. Rapunzel loved her brother's imagination, but it was strange to hear him talking about a made up person as if he were real.

"A couple days ago," Jamie replied. "Jack Frost gave us a snow day so I was playing with Pippa and the guys."

Rapunzel twirled her spaghetti. "Pippa, huh? You still have a crush on her?"

Jamie blushed and looked down. "I don't have a crush on Pippa. She's my friend."

Their mother, clearly uncomfortable with the topic of her nine-year-old son having a crush, changed the subject. "Why don't you guys take advantage of the snow tomorrow?"

"That sounds fun," Rapunzel agreed. "You guys wanna go ice skating tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" Sophie exclaimed.

"I don't know..." their dad interjected. "I think Sophie is still too young to go ice skating."

"Oh, come on, dad," Rapunzel said. "I'll be watching her; she'll be fine. I promise."


	2. Chapter 2

"Up! Up! Up!"

Rapunzel was forced awake by Sophie jumping on her. She reached up and grabbed Sophie, pulling her down next to her. Sophie giggled and Rapunzel started tickling her.

"Don't you know better than to jump on people?" Rapunzel asked.

Sophie wiggled away from Rapunzel and sat on the edge of the bed. "Ice skating!"

"Oh. That's right." Rapunzel yawned and stretched before finally getting out of bed. "Let me take a shower and get dressed and then I'll meet you and Jamie downstairs for breakfast."

"Okay!" Sophie jumped off the bed and bounded down the hallway.

Rapunzel took a hot shower, taking her time and enjoying the warmth. When she was done, she dried off quickly and blow dried her hair. As she stood in front of her closet, trying to decide what to wear, there was a knock on her door.

"Are you ready, yet?" Jamie asked.

"Almost. I'll be right down," Rapunzel called out to him.

She eventually decided on a tight, low cut purple sweater and ripped jeans over black tights. She pulled on her black boots, then headed downstairs. Jamie and Sophie were already at the table and their mom was just bringing out the plates, full of eggs, bacon and waffles.

"Where's dad?" Rapunzel asked, taking a bite of bacon.

"Work," Mrs. Bennett replied. "Not everyone gets spring break."

Rapunzel nodded. "Right."

Jamie and Sophie spent the rest of breakfast talking excitedly about spending the day with Rapunzel. She was thankful that the name Jack Frost didn't come once. When they were done eating, they rummaged through the closet until they found their ice skates, then headed outside. Jamie went right for the loose piece of wood in the fence and the three of them slipped through it, then walked down the hill that led down to the street.

"Hi, Jamie."

Jamie blushed when he saw Pippa walking down the street towards them. "Hey, Pippa."

"Me, Cupcake and the guys are going sledding. You wanna come?" Pippa asked.

"Not today. I'm hanging out with my sister."

"Hi, Pippa," Rapunzel greeted with a smile.

"Hi."

"Ice skating!" Sophie said, holding up her ice skates.

Pippa smiled down at her. "Have fun." She gave them a short wave, then continued walking.

The Bennett siblings walked across the street and made their way down the hill that led to the pond.

"It's okay to like Pippa," Rapunzel told Jamie. "She's a very nice girl."

"I don't like her," Jamie insisted. "She's like one of the guys."

"If you say so."

They sat down on a large rock beside the pond and changed into their ice skates. Jamie was the first one ready and awkwardly started skating. Rapunzel helped Sophie with her skates, then held her hand as they walked onto the ice. After only a few minutes, Jamie got the hang of skating and was literally skating circles around his sisters. Sophie gripped Rapunzel's hand tightly and kept her eyes on her feet as she slowly made her way around the pond.

"Rapunzel!" Jamie called out. "Watch this!" He skated as fast as he could passed them, then jumped into the air. He attempted to land on his feet, but landed on his butt and slid a couple feet. He burst out laughing.

Sophie cheered for her brother. She let go of Rapunzel's hand and slowly made her way over to Jamie. She took Jamie's hand. "Me too!"

Holding onto Sophie, Jamie skated as fast as he could and then they jumped into the air. They both fell and started laughing, but Rapunzel winced.

"Be careful, you guys!" She called over to them.

"We'll be fine," Jamie said. "I do this with the guys all the time."

"Just watch out for Sophie. She could get hurt."

Sophie kept her hand glued to her brother's as they skated around the pond. They continued to skate as fast as they could, doing jumps and spinning around in circles. Rapunzel kept to the edge of the pond and watched them. Whenever they would fall (which was more often than not), she would wince and warn them to be careful. Every once in a while she would glance back towards their house. She couldn't see the house over the hill and she was glad. If their mother could see what Rapunzel was letting them do, she would freak out.

After they had been skating for a while, it started snowing. The sun disappeared behind a cloud, casting shadows over the pond. Rapunzel shivered since she was only wearing her sweater. She instantly longed to be back home.

"Hey, guys!" Rapunzel called over to her siblings. "Let's head back home for some hot chocolate."

Their faces lit up. "Okay!" Jamie called back. "Just one more jump."

"All right."

Jamie and Sophie started skating across the ice and then jumped into the air. But, when they landed they fell and disappeared inside what looked like a shadow, but Rapunzel knew it had to be a hole in the ice.

"Jamie!" Rapunzel screamed as she raced towards where they disappeared. She skidded to a stop and fell to her knees. "Sophie!"

Rapunzel tried to reach down into the hole, but was surprised to find that it was solid. She frantically looked around, hoping to see her brother and sister through the ice, but she didn't see them anywhere. The shadow slowly slipped away, but Rapunzel didn't notice. She started pounding on the ice. "Jamie! Sophie!"

"They're not down there."

Rapunzel whirled around, startled by the sudden voice. A blonde woman was slowly walking across the pond towards Rapunzel. She was wearing a tight, pink leather jacket, matching skin tight pants and white fingerless gloves. An arrow quiver was strapped to her back and she was carrying a bow. Rapunzel didn't know what to say to her.

"They didn't fall through the ice," the woman said. "They were taken."


	3. Chapter 3

"How do you know they were taken? Who took them? And you the hell are _you_?" Rapunzel was so scared. Panic swelled inside her and she felt like she was going to explode. "Where are my brother and sister?"

The woman's face remained expressionless as she looked around. She seemed to be concentrating on something and didn't respond to Rapunzel's questions. Rapunzel go to her feet and stormed towards the woman. Since she was still wearing her ice skates, she was a little unstable, but she did her best to retain a confident stance.

"Answer me!" Rapunzel demanded.

The woman glanced down at Rapunzel. "I don't have time."

The woman walked passed Rapunzel and started walking towards the woods. Rapunzel stared after her in disbelief for a moment, then skated after her.

Rapunzel grabbed the woman's thin wrist and spun her around. "Hey! I need to find my brother and sister and you seem to know where they are. I-"

"I will save the boy and girl. Go home."

"No!" Rapunzel cried out, her voice rising an octave. She was shocked at the woman's command. "I have to find my brother and sister."

"I told you I would save them."

"I don't even know you. How can I trust you?" Rapunzel crossed her arms over her chest. "I can't."

"You have to." The woman in pink continued walking away.

"I'm coming with you!" Rapunzel called after her.

The woman stopped and glanced at Rapunzel over her shoulder. "If I tell you no, will you listen?"

"Nope."

The woman sighed. "Very well."

Rapunzel quickly took off her skates and put on her boots. "I just have to tell my mom-"

"There's no time," the woman told her. "We have to move now or we'll never catch up."

"But, my mom will be worried if I don't-"

The woman spun around. "Look. I'm leaving now- with or without you." To make her point, the woman spun on her heel and started walking away.

Rapunzel glanced back at the house, but then ran towards the woman. They walked through the woods for a while without talking. The woman stayed on full alert. Rapunzel had no idea who they were looking for and the more time that went on, the more anxious she became. She didn't know where they were going or even if this woman could be trusted. All she knew is that Jamie and Sophie vanished without a trace at the very moment this woman showed up. That was not a coincidence. This mysterious woman in leather was the only link Rapunzel had to her missing siblings and she didn't even know her name.

Rapunzel cleared her throat. "My name is Rapunzel," she prompted, hoping the woman would introduce herself as well.

The woman didn't say anything for a moment, but then looked at Rapunzel. Rapunzel noticed for the first time that the woman had purple eyes. "I'm Brier Rose."

"Brier Rose..." Rapunzel said slowly. "Who are we looking for?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

A cold wind circled around them. Rapunzel looked around and noticed they had gone deeper into the woods than she had ever been. The trees were tall and grew so close together that they completely blocked out the sky. There was a rustling around them and Rapunzel could swear she hear the faint sound of a horse in the distance. Brier Rose slowly pulled an arrow out of her quiver. She struck the tip against her bow and the tip instantly caught fire. Brier Rose stuck the flaming arrow into her bow and readied herself. For what, Rapunzel didn't know.

"Brier, who are we looking for?" Rapunzel repeated.

Brier Rose topped and aimed her arrow. Rapunzel looked ahead of her. There was a small clearing completely surrounded by trees. In the very center of the clearing was a broken wooden bed; just small enough for a child. Rapunzel couldn't help staring at it. It was the creepiest thing she had ever seen. Just what kind of person had her brother and sister? Brier Rose slowly walked forward and Rapunzel followed her. They stopped next to the bed and saw that there was a deep, narrow hole under the bed. Rapunzel's heart pounded in her chest. Were Jamie and Sophie down there? What was happening to them? All sorts of unspeakable horrors were running through Rapunzel's head. She had to fight to keep from crying and calling out there names.

"Brier, please," Rapunzel whispered. "Who has my brother and sister?"

Brier Rose looked at Rapunzel with pity. "The boogey man."

Rapunzel just stared at her. "Is that some kind of joke?" she spat, getting angry. "Jamie and Sophie could be in real danger and I've been following an insane woman who thinks the _boogey man _has them?"

"I know how this sounds, Rapunzel. But, it's the truth," Brier Rose told her. "Jamie helped the Guardians and Jack Frost-"

Rapunzel let out a frustrated growl. "I'm so sick of hearing about Jack Frost! He's not real! And neither is the boogey man."

"He's real," Brier Rose said flatly. "And his lair is down there."

Rapunzel rolled his eyes. "Of course it is; because the boogey man lives under the bed." She had meant that to be sarcastic, but she couldn't help realizing the truth in her words.

"I don't think he's here." Brier Rose blew out the flame on the tip of her arrow and then put it back in her quiver. She then used her bow to break one of the planks on the bed. "There's no black sand around here, so I don't think his nightmares brought the children here. But, we should check it out anyway. You coming?"

Rapunzel uneasily glanced down at the seemingly endless hole. The hole that supposedly led to the boogey man's lair. Rapunzel was pretty sure she didn't believe the boogey man had Jamie and Sophie, but _someone _did and she had to save them.

Brier Rose jumped into the hole and instantly disappeared in the darkness. Rapunzel took a in a shaky breath and jumped in after her.


	4. Chapter 4

It was suffocatingly dark. The inky blackness wrapped itself around Rapunzel and she could swear it was tangible. She couldn't see anything, nor could she feel anything; it wasn't cold or hot in the hole. It was just nothing. As if all of a sudden Rapunzel no longer existed. But, she _did_ feel fear. Fear consumed her. She could feel it whispering around her and taking her over. She reached out for something to grab onto- anything to prove this was all in her head- but found nothing. What was she going to do? How was she going to get out of here? _Could _she get out of here?

Then, there was a sudden bright light. All of the shadows retreated until the light filled the entire room. There wasn't much in the room; dozens of metal cages and a large metal globe with millions of little lights on it. Brier Rose was standing beside the globe holding a large, glowing crystal that came to a point on either end. Rapunzel had many questions: What kind of crystal was that? What was with the giant globe? How were they going to get out of here? But, right then, she couldn't think of any of that. She immediately began checking all of the cages for her brother and sister.

"Jamie! Sophie! Where are you?" she called out. There was no answer.

"They're not here," Brier Rose stated, not looking away from the globe. "It's only us and the shadows."

Rapunzel had been approaching a cage, but stopped. "Then where are they?"

Brier Rose's eyes scanned the globe quickly. "I don't know. Wherever Pitch has taken them, they're hidden. Their lights aren't even on the globe."

"What are you talking about?"

Brier Rose finally looked at Rapunzel. "Each of those lights is a child who still believes. To you, they all look the same; but to a select few, we see the child the light represents. Like an identifier, if you will. When a child stops believing, their light goes out. Jamie's and Sophie's lights aren't here, but knowing what I do about Jamie Bennett, it's not because he's stopped believing. Just a couple days ago, Pitch had taken over the Earth with fear and all of the children stopped believing- except Jamie." Brier Rose shook her head. "There's no way he's suddenly stopped believing now. Pitch must have figured out a way to hide him from us."

Rapunzel walked over to Brier Rose and looked up at the globe. "You're not making a lot of sense. What does Jamie believe in? And who is _'us' _exactly?"

"We have to keep moving. Come on."

Rapunzel followed Brier Rose, but didn't let her ignore her questions. "Tell me what's going on."

Brier Rose found a tunnel and led Rapunzel down it. "Both of your questions, for the most part, have the same answer. But, you don't believe anymore, Rapunzel; so you won't believe me when I answer you. I know you think you can help the children, but believe me when I tell you, there's nothing you can do."

"Why not?" Rapunzel demanded.

They walked out of the tunnel, and were back in the woods. But, now it was dark outside and Rapunzel wondered just how long they had been down in that hole.

"We should rest for the night."

"How is it night already night?"

Brier Rose found some wood nearby and gathered it into a pile, then lit it with one of her arrows. "We've traveled a long way. Pitch's lair is in Italy."

"We're in _Italy?" _ Rapunzel screeched.

Brier Rose shook her head. "We're back in Burgess, but it took us several hours to travel to Pitch's lair and back."

"How is that possible? It feels like only minutes have gone by."

"Magic."

Rapunzel rolled her eyes. "Give me a break."

Brier Rose gave her a stern look and pointed at her. "_That _is exactly why you _cannot_ help Jamie and your sister."

Rapunzel sighed and sat down on one of the logs in front of the fire. It was freezing outside and she was grateful for the warmth from the fire. "I'm sorry, Brier. Please explain things to me."

"What Jamie believes in is hope, wonder, light, dreams..._magic; _the things that most children still believe in. Who _we _are... we're Protectors and Guardians. Each one of us represents a different virtue or ideal that is precious inside a child. But, the Guardians..." Brier Rose smiled for the first time. "The Guardians are legends; figures that everyone has heard of but only children still believe in."

"Who are they?"

"Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, the Tooth Fairy and Jack Frost."

"None of them are real," Rapunzel pointed out.

Brier Rose gave her a sad look. "Of course they are. Just because you stopped believing in them, doesn't mean they aren't there. You just can't see them. You can't see what you don't believe in. The same goes with Pitch. You don't believe in the boogey man, thus you can't seem him; which means you can't fight him to save your siblings."

Rapunzel didn't know how to respond to that, so instead she asked, "How do _you _fit into all of this? You're not a Guardian, so are you a Protector?"

Brier Rose looked down at the crystal in her hands. "I used to be."

"What happened?"

Brier Rose was quiet for a long time, but finally replied. "It's late. We should get some sleep."

Rapunzel nodded and didn't press any further. The two girls lied down on the logs and prepared for sleep.

"Sweet dreams," Rapunzel whispered.

Brier Rose stared at Rapunzel for a moment, but then held the crystal tightly against her and closed her eyes. "I wouldn't count on it."


End file.
